Claimed
by Caty 3.14
Summary: Cameron Thompson is a mystery, and everyone knows the Doctor can't resist a mystery. What secrets is he hiding? Where is he from? And why doesn't he want the Time Lord's help? (Whovian in the Whoniverse. Eventual Doctor/OMC with lots of flirting with everyone along the way. VERY slow updates. Liable to being rewritten at some point...)
1. Rescued?

**Author's note:**

Consider this a 'reader's beware' kind of note. Firstly, to those you aren't inclined towards this kind of story, this will be an eventual Doctor/OMC story. For those who _are_ inclined towards this kind of story, same warning, but the emphasis goes on the word ' _eventual_ '. Finally a warning for all: me and updating are not such good friends. Most of my writing and inspiration seems to come when I have an assignment due... such as right now...

If despite all this you're still interested and want to read more, let me know. Reviews = love, people!

 **Prologue**

Rose kissed a stunned Mickey goodbye before turning and running back into the Doctor's bigger on the inside ship, bearing the same grin of exciting and magical possibilities that used to similarly split her cheeks when she was younger, when she woke up and realised it was Christmas day. The same limitless joy from her childhood bubbled through her now as she chased after the Doctor. She came to a halt when she stood before the console that the impossibility amazing man stood beside. He was absentmindedly juggling a bubbly ball of some sort in one hand as though this was an everyday kind of thing, running into bigger on the inside spaceships that could travel in time and space - which, for him, it probably was.

"Right then, Rose Tyler, you tell me. Where do you want to go?" the Doctor asked as she brushed her hair back out of her face. "Backwards or forwards in time? It's your choice. What's it going to be?"

She shook her head quickly in eager disbelief, her smile still firmly in place. "Err, forwards," she decided aloud, both unsure if he could pull it off and hoping she would be proven wrong.

The Doctor set the ball down on the console and flicked a couple of switches. "How far?" he asked her smugly after he'd straightened again.

"One hundred years," she told him, silently challenging him to do as he claimed.

The Doctor met her challenge, spinning a few dials and setting his ship into flight, holding her gaze all the while. He knew how far outside her twenty-first century experience this was, but Rose Tyler had already proven herself capable of handling more than the average human of her era, and he was eager to see the wonder upon her face as he properly introduced her to how fantastic the universe truly was.

He'd always felt that pull for adventure, that desire to explore the universe. It was like a nagging whisper that had been with him since he was a child, encouraging him ever on, goading him ever further, but while that nagging feeling continued to drive him onward in his quest to experience all the universe's most wonderful wonders, he'd long since learned how much more fantastic the experience was when he had someone to share it with. Now, that someone was Rose Tyler.

They held on as the console room rocked around them as they hurtled ahead, and the Doctor grinned at the nervously excited worry he could see on the young Londoner's face. She obviously still couldn't quite believe him, but she was both open minded and she wasn't running away. He would blow her mind.

He parked the ship in place and pointed to the exit. "There you go. Step outside those doors; it's the twenty-second century," he announced like it was the most ordinary thing in the world.

"You're kidding," Rose asked him, having thought travelling through time would be harder than he'd made it seem.

"That's a bit boring though. Do you want to go further?" he asked without missing a beat.

"Fine by me," the Londoner agreed with another little shake of her head, still hopefully sceptical about his claim.

The Time Lord set them into flight again, this time pushing his ship to take them a little further. "Ten thousand years in the future," he told her, pointing the way once more. "Step outside; it's the year 12005, the new Roman Empire."

Rose shook her head again, but this time it was at the way he spoke rather than at the words he'd spoken. "You think you're so impressive," she accused with a grin.

"I _am_ so impressive," the Doctor protested in mock outrage.

"You wish," she teased, poking her the tip of her tongue through her teeth as she grinned.

The Doctor's gaze lit up with mischief as he smiled back to her, still pretending offence at her words. "Right then, you asked for it," he told her, his gaze sparkling as he 'punished' her for her lack of faith. "I know exactly where to go. Hold on!"

He sent his timeship back into flight once more, dancing around the controls as he took her to a future no human from her time had ever imagined. As soon as they landed, however, a cold sliver of recognition stabbed through him, and he quickly pulled the monitor before him to confirm they had arrived exactly where he intended. He swallowed. According to all the information his ship had, he and Rose were exactly where he'd planned to land, perfectly safe, but he could feel that there was someone else outside those doors who wasn't so fortunate. Even had this not been his intended destination, he knew he couldn't walk away now. Someone out there needed saving.

"Where are we?" Rose asked, having expected another smug spiel from her driver.

The Doctor hid his disquiet behind a disarming, toothless grin and gestured wordlessly towards the doors.

Rose looked over her shoulder then back to the man with impossible promises. "What's out there?" she continued, unable to hide her own excitement.

The Doctor mutely gestured again, and she ambled across the room, trying to pretend that she wasn't giddy as a schoolgirl at the adventure.

As soon as she had stepped through those doors, the Doctor's grin dropped, and he took a moment to concentrate and confirm what he'd felt, despite already being absolutely positive. He could sense a Claim, a powerful one. A telepathic Claim that had been imprinted on some poor individual out there, like a leash to tie them to the person that had Claimed them. It was a form of slavery that had been outlawed by the Shadow Proclamation and the Church millennia ago, and yet, some powerful telepath out there had deemed themselves above the law and enacted this cruel form of slavery on another.

The Oncoming Storm bubbled just beneath the surface. He would find them. He would free the victim, and he would punish the wrongdoer. He would not let this trespass slide.

The Doctor took a steadying breath, calming his anger, then he stepped out to join Rose on the viewing platform, a carefree grin back in place. He would right this wrong, but he would also wow Rose with how amazing he- _the universe_ was. He would prove to her that he was as fantastic as he claimed!

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Rescued?**

"I still don't think this is a good idea," Cameron murmured anxiously to the giant head beside him as he looked about at the roomful of people they were entering. It wasn't the multitudes of aliens that worried him, but one in particular.

' _The safest place for you right now is with me, and you know as well as I that this is where I must now be_ ,' the voice echoed softly through his thoughts, drowning out his own introduction to the younger man.. The voice didn't 'sound' deep as it had on the show, it simply was. It was like Cameron's own internal dialogue, his own inner voice whispering to him, except it wasn't, and he, like everyone else, could easily instantly recognise that the 'voice' was someone else's and not his own. In this case, it was the voice of the Face of Boe.

' _Although, if you're feeling uncomfortable, we could always retire to my suite?_ ' Boe added with more than a subtle hint of suggestion.

Cameron chuckled as he shook his head. He'd been surprised when he'd first met the Face of Boe at how like Jack he could be, which, he'd had to remind himself at the time, really shouldn't have been so surprising.

However, he understood where the once time agent was coming from in terms of their presence on the viewing station; this was an old argument between them. Cameron had been trapped in this reality long enough now to know that it was real, but that simply made him more determined to avoid the notice of the Time Lord somewhere on the platform. He'd seen and read enough to know that even the slightest interference could drastically disrupt, even destroy, the Doctor's timeline - Donna turning right instead of left at a street corner being the prime example - and he didn't want his own presence in this once fictional universe to cause that kind of devastation. At least with Boe, Jack, being close to the end of his story, and with so little of these years of his life revealed in the show, any interference could be mostly mitigated in terms of the continuation of the universe. He didn't want to break the established timeline any more than he already had, instead needed to do everything he could to ensure it stayed on track. No, it would be better him, for everyone, in every universe, if he was able to escape the Time Lord's notice, to stay at the ancient man's side. He just had to do his best at being as inconspicuous as possible.

However, apparently Cameron had failed before he'd even begun.

As he was gazing out into the crowd, searching for the man he needed to avoid, a hand suddenly took hold of his own from one side, sharply pulling him around. Cameron's breath caught in his throat mid gasp, making him feel like he was being strangled despite there being no attack on or about his neck.

The ninth Doctor stood before him, looking furious as he studied the burn in the middle of Cameron's palm. Cameron was surprised that, of all things, it was the tiny scar he'd received when he was kidnapped that had somehow drawn Nine's attention; he didn't even think it was particularly noticeable if you didn't know it was there, yet the Time Lord had gone straight to it, not even looking up at the young man whose hand held the mark he studied.

Cameron tried to jerk his hand back, but the Doctor's soft grip was unbreakable. He turned Cameron's palm towards the giant head, glaring at his not-yet-friend accusingly. "And what do you think this is?" he demanded angrily in his strong northern accent.

' _The Claim was not my doing, old friend_ ,' Cameron heard the calm voice replying. While over the last week, Cameron had been surprised by how much like the old Jack the big head sounded in his choice of words, with the Doctor he suddenly adopted an 'ancient and wise sage' overtone, perhaps disguising himself from when the Time Lord inevitably met his younger self in the London Blitz.

The Doctor shook his head at the giant one before him, radiating fury, and Cameron fruitlessly tried to pull his hand free again. He didn't think the Doctor even noticed him. "This was done by a high level telepath, and you fit the bill perfectly, keeping him prisoner and all. Although-" Cameron could see the frown that lightly tainted the Time Lord's face from side on. "-I'll admit that I'm surprised that you of all people would do such a messy job of it."

"Messy?" Cameron couldn't help but repeat. It was just a little burn, wasn't it? Although he shuddered slightly as he remembered how he'd received it, at the feeling of another mind latching onto his own like vines choking around a tree.

The Doctor finally turned and looked at him properly, and Cameron shrank back as far as he could from those ancient, burning eyes, but he couldn't escape as the owner of that terrible gaze still held his hand.

The Doctor's gaze softened as he looked at the unsettled young man. He looked to be about the same age as Rose, too young for what had been done to him. However, no one was ever too young to be a victim of cruelty, he supposed bitterly.

Rather than answering the young man's question, the Doctor asked one of his own. He had to deal with the immediate threat first, or at least determine if there was one. "Did they do this to you?" he asked gently.

' _The boy is under my protection_ ," the soundless voice interjected.

"I was asking _him_ ," the Doctor corrected sharply, rolling his head slightly as he glared at the being in the jar.

Cameron shook his head when the other man looked back down at him again, still trying to pull away as far as he could while his hand remained locked in the other's grip. "No," he said, his mouth dry. "He didn't do that. He helped me."

The Doctor continued to stare at him searchingly as though trying to ascertain whether Cameron was telling the truth or not. He seemed to find what he was looking for though, because he suddenly shot Cameron a disarming grin and released his hand.

"No harm done then," the Doctor announced cheerily, but Cameron wasn't deceived. The Doctor's grin reminded him too much of the one he'd given Rose in _Boomtown_ when he tried to pretend that he wasn't concerned about the words 'Bad Wolf' which showed up wherever the two of them visited throughout time and space. The Doctor had noticed him. That was very bad.

"What's your name?" he asked, still looking at Cameron a little to intensely for the young man's liking.

He shook his head slightly as he stepped closer to the giant jar once more. "It doesn't matter," he said softly. Cameron for a moment found himself hoping that the chaos of the episode would start and distract the Doctor, then immediately felt guilty when he remembered just how many people were hurt and killed in Cassandra's destruction.

The Doctor frowned at the young man as he retreated to a place of apparent safety, trying to determine whether the ancient business man had truly helped him or if he was suffering from Stockholm's, being manipulated into believing his enemy was his friend. He was obviously trying to lose the Doctor's attention, to escape notice, which, in the Doctor's opinion, only happened when there was something worth noticing.

"Doctor?" a voice interrupted from just behind him. Rose had finally caught up with him from where he'd marched away as soon as he'd found the source of the Claim that called to him.

 _Perfect_ , the Doctor thought, appreciating his newly chosen companion's timing. "Rose Tyler," he greeted, turning and putting his arm around her back and drawing her closer to the group before them. "Allow me to introduce you to the Face of Boe, the sponsor of today's festivities."

"Er… Hello?" the Londoner said nervously, giving a tiny wave in an attempt to make up for her lack of articulation.

"And this is a friend of his. His name's-" He paused expectantly, allowing the young man to fill in the blank.

Cameron glanced wide eyed between the Time Lord and his companion, instantly recognising the trap he'd been caught in. He couldn't refuse to answer for Rose Tyler, could he? The Doctor was already far too interested. He didn't want to come across as even more suspicious. He took a breath and pushed his hesitation aside, wanted to seem like just anyone rather than a someone.

"Cameron," he supplied, trying to quickly come up with some distraction to interrupt the Doctor's disquieting scrutiny. He silently swore at the giant head beside him for not backing him up but forcing him to have to face the Time Lord. When this was all over, Cameron intended to give that giant head a piece of his m- "Oh," he said as an idea came to him and he turned to one of the aides who stood nearby holding a giant platter with lots of crystal ornaments balanced upon it.

"A gift of peace," he said, offering a delicate carved rose to the woman of the same name.

Her jaw dropped slightly at the stemless crystal flower cupped in his hands. "No, I couldn't…"

" _Rose_ ," the Doctor whispered in urgent encouragement, nodding towards the gift, and she reluctantly reached out to accept it, feeling like it was too grand a gift for her.

"Gifts, gifts," the Doctor murmured to himself as he patted searchingly on his jacket.

Cameron blanched slightly at the sight. Wasn't he supposed to have come up with a gift idea when talking to Jabe? Did that mean he hadn't met Jabe yet? But he was supposed to have met her first? Would he not meet her at all now? Cameron's eyes quickly search the throng of guests for the group of trees who walked somewhere amongst them. By his very presence in the room he was changing the Doctor's future, which was exactly what he'd been trying to avoid. How much had he ruined simply by being there?

While Cameron's mind raced as he tried to solve the problem he'd unwittingly caused, Boe interrupted the Doctor's search with a gently chuckle. ' _I think you will find, old friend, that it is only the invited guests who are expected to give gifts. However, you might not want to draw the other guest's attention by failing to have anything to offer._ '

With that closing statement, the Face of Boe turned and led his entourage deeper into the crowd, and the Doctor grinned at the permission disguised as a rebuke he'd been given.

"So you know him then?" Rose asked, still cradling the flower in her palms.

"Never met him before," he answered lightly, his eyes still fixed on the young man at the Face's side. Too many things didn't add up about him. How had a young man whose mannerisms and language matched Rose's so closely ended up with a Claim on him five billion years into the future?

"But he called you 'old friend'," she pointed out, causing the Doctor to turn back to her, smiling proudly. He was right about her.

"Yes he did. Well done," he congratulated warmly. "Time travel. Things don't always happen in the right order. It's usually best to just go with it until you know enough to do something about it, unless it's not," he offered unhelpfully with a cheery voice.

"Okay," she agreed, nodding slowly. "That's clear as mud?" Her wide eyes flowed over the assortment of aliens before them once more before turning back to the man who'd brought her to them, trying to hold onto the shred of normality that remained to her.

The Doctor grinned fondly at the young woman. She was totally out of her depth and yet already instinctively doing just as he'd advised. "Sometimes it's best to pretend you already know what's going on and leave others none the wiser. The Face of Boe; he suggested he'd met me before, but I haven't met him yet. I'll play along, but if he started reminiscing about old times, either I'd have had to change the topic or admit to him that I haven't met him yet. Knowing your future can be a very dangerous thing."

Her eyebrows furrowed slightly. "But, isn't this the future?" she asked, knowing she was pointing out the obvious, but his actions seemed to contradict his words.

"Yes," he scoffed, "but I know what I'm doing." He glanced searchingly towards the Face of Boe and the youth with him once more, but another group of hooded guests was approaching him.

"A gift of peace in all good faith," a robotic voice greeted him as they offered him a silver ball, and the Doctor plastered a grin on his face. He would follow his own advice, pretending, as he always did, that he was exactly where he was meant to be, while finding out everything he could about the boy Boe claimed to be protecting.

 **~0~0~0~**

"I think I should go to the room or something," Cameron murmured to the head beside him. He'd waited until they'd worked their way through a number of the guests, giving and receiving gifts. Unlike that first gift he'd given Rose, he didn't take part in that process. He didn't understand anyone else since parting from Rose and the Doctor, but Cameron had grown used to that in recent days. He did have a small device in his pocket that seemed to function like Google Translate, but their present circumstances made it difficult for the device to work with the speed and accuracy Cameron needed - too many voices and languages overlapping one another, confusing the translator into offering garbled nonsense instead of a helpful translation. He found himself wishing he could simply understand like Rose could with the help of the TARDIS.

' _You'd be safer if you remained here with me_ ," Boe pointed out, but Cameron shook his head.

"I've already changed things just by being here. It's not safe," he said. His giant friend understood his predicament. He'd only explained the very minimum that he'd had to but Boe had understood very quickly, perhaps because of his own experience with the dangers of time travel, paradoxes and foreknowledge.

' _I have met both Rose and the Doctor in his current regeneration in their futures. You don't have to be afraid here, so long as you are careful to not say what shouldn't be said_.'

"Yeah, that's the whole point of me sneaking away," Cameron pointed out dryly. "I figure it's easier to not say anything if I'm not here to say it."

Boe turned his gaze to one of the blue skinned aides standing nearby. Cameron couldn't hear what words the ancient time traveller thought at his employee and didn't under the words blue man offered in return. ' _Henaar will convey you to your destination, just make sure you are safe when the time comes_ ," the giant head instructed.

"I will. I'll make sure I'm back here in time." Cameron went to follow his guide, but turned back, grateful and relieved for the help of his impossible friend. "Thanks, Jack," Cameron said softly, trying not to let his voice carry any further than it had to. "I owe you one."

' _Careful, or I might call in that favour one day_ ," the ancient man teased in return.

"Oh, don't you wish," Cameron shot back cheekily, and he exited the room with the old time traveller's laughter bubbling through his thoughts.

His good mood evaporated, however, a the soft voice that called out to him from behind as they walked through the halls.

"Hello, sorry, Cameron wasn't it?"

Cameron grimaced slightly then turned to face the Doctor's favourite companion. _Rose Tyler_ , he thought. She was even more beautiful in person than she'd been on the show. He could see why the Doctor fell for her.

He smiled to her. He could see the same slightly pale and overwhelmed look on her face that he'd seen on the show so long ago, an expression he knew well, as he too had worn it when he'd fallen from his own world into one that he knew shouldn't exist, and when he too had been introduced to life beyond the earth.

He knew he needed to be careful, but perhaps being ordinary with Rose could help convince the Time Lord to lose interest in him. Besides, she still looked flighty enough that he thought she could use a kind word.

"Rosetyler," he greeted her, deliberately running her name together as though he too was alien enough to not understand how her name worked. He saw her eyebrows knotting together and her slight hesitation, indicating he'd succeeded, but that only made him feel guilty of his deception.

"No, no, it's just Rose," she corrected him in that gentle voice he remembered from the show.

"Rose," he repeated, dipping his head slightly in greeting. "Are you enjoying the party?"

"Not really," she admitted with a nervous chuckle.

Cameron couldn't help but empathise with her. "No, me either," he agreed, smiling back.

"Is it always like this?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "So…"

 _Alien_ , Cameron silently completed for her, but he couldn't say that outloud, not if he was trying to hide that he too was a stranger in this future.

They were interrupted by Cameron's guide. "Oh, sorry," Cameron murmured absentmindedly as he pulled the translator out of his pocket.

" _I was asked to deliver you to the Face of Boe's suite_ ," the smooth voice that reminded him of a more succinct Siri repeated in his own tongue. " _It is only two doors further down this hall._ " Cameron looked up to see the blue aide indicating a particular door ahead. Once he'd seen Cameron glancing at the door, the man held out a card to him. " _This will grant you access_ ," Siri continued.

Cameron flicked the switch on the side of the translator. "Thank you," he said as he accepted the card, and the device repeated his words in gobblety gook. He turned back to Rose after the aide nodded his head once and took his leave.

"What's that?" Rose asked curiously, stepping closer to inspect the device.

"It's just a little translator," he explained, holding the little palm pilot up and wiggling it in the air. He turned it and looked down at it again. "It helps when there are so many languages out there. You can't know them all," he pointed out casually, knowing the Doctor and his ship were a living contradiction to his words.

"So wait," Rose said suddenly, glancing back up at Cameron. "You're speaking English," she clarified. "Actual English."

 _Ahh, crap_ , Cameron swore silently. He hadn't thought of that. "Aren't you?" he asked cheekily, raising his eyebrow, trying to turn the matter into a joke rather than something that exposed him.

He needed to be more careful, he reminded himself. Rose wasn't the Doctor, but she was clever and kind, two attributes that made it easier to get past people's defences, and part of what drew the Doctor to her in the first place.

"I don't know," Rose admitted. "It's hard to keep track of… languages…"

An amused grin touched Cameron's lips, but he didn't say anything. He could understand how it might be hard to keep track of languages if everyone spoke to you in English even when they didn't, but he wasn't supposed to know about the TARDIS translation matrix.

"I dunno, I thought it might have died out by now," Rose continued.

"Why would it have?" he asked lightly, even though he silently agreed with her. After however many billions of years, if the English language still existed surely it would show little to no resemblance to the dialect they knew. Oh, he was in over his head. He needed to stage a tactical retreat. Talking to the Doctor's companion, and _Rose Tyler_ at that, however amazing it was it was just too dangerous.

"I guess," she conceded, but Cameron could see the questions in her eyes she was obviously mulling over. "Wait, does that make you human?" she asked suddenly, then she seemed to realise that her question could have come across as rude and she quickly stammered into damage control. "I-I mean, you look human, but so does the Doctor, but Cassandra said that-"

"You've already spoken to Cassandra?" Cameron asked sharply, the continuity of the episode suddenly catching up with him: Rose Tyler wandering the halls alone after speaking to that bitchy trampoline…

He glanced behind him, remembering how once upon a tv show Rose had walked straight toward the Adherents of the Repeated Meme, never suspecting the danger until it was too late. While he was relieved to learn that this part of the episode had taken place as it should have, would the rest? Had the Doctor met Jabe now? If he hadn't, would he still find out about the Steward? Would he still learn that Rose was in danger?

Cameron felt a sickening sense of guilt about the Steward, and the plumber, Jabe, the Moxx of Balhoon and so many others… So many people would die, or had died already, and he'd done nothing to stop it. Rose, though; he couldn't risk Rose, not her.

"Come on," he said quickly as he spotted the cloaked puppets rounding the corner up ahead. If Rose hadn't stopped to talk to him, she'd have already been taken - yet another thing he'd changed simply by being in a universe where he shouldn't exist.

"Sorry, what-?" Rose began, confused by the sudden change and Cameron's demeanour. He somehow reminded him of the Doctor, going from carefree in one moment to ready for action in the next at some danger only he could perceive. She glanced past him at the group of four, no five - another had just rounded the corner - cloaked figured heading towards them, and she felt the familiar surge of adrenaline that seemed part and parcel of adventuring with the Doctor. He'd even warned her when he first invited her to travel with him that his life was always as dangerous as saving the world from living plastic had been.

Cameron didn't think Rose was reacting quickly enough, and he admittedly didn't know what the death eater-esque puppets were capable of. In the show, they'd caught Rose by surprise, and the Doctor had downed them with a single blow, but Cameron was no Time Lord.

He took Rose by the hand, drawing those wide brown eyes to his own once more, and he spoke that single word he hoped she'd listen to, that risked giving too much away.

" _Run!_ "


	2. Caught!

**Chapter 2: Caught!**

They'd had the advantage in running when the puppets hadn't expected them too, but the gap between them was steadily closing. To make matters worse, Cameron forgot which turn off would take them back to the crowded party which would offer them some degree of protection, or so he'd hoped, and instead the two ended up running blindly through the maze of hallways.

"Do you even know where we're going?" Rose demanded breathlessly when they hesitated again at the next junction.

Cameron nodded confidently. "Away," he replied, sparing all the breath he had as he as good as admitted to her how lost he was.

"Some help _you_ are," she sniped.

The death eater wannabes appeared at the far end of the corridor, along with a couple on the little sabotage spiders which scurried across the wall, and the two dashed down another passageway at random again.

"When they're out of sight, we could hide in one of these room," Rose suggested between gasps the next time they paused.

Cameron shook his head as he bent forward, holding his knees to try to keep himself on his feet and his head hanging low as he tried not to be sick. He wasn't used to running like this. He'd used to be fitter, back when he played and trained for basketball every week, but he'd opted to take time off to concentrate on his studies in his final year of school, and he hadn't managed to get back to playing again since. Now, his whole body already burned with exertion.

"If we get trapped, we'll die," he pointed out, thinking of the descending sun filter that had nearly taken the Londoner's life in her second episode.

"But what if we're not trapped?" she followed up.

Cameron glanced up to meet her gaze. She almost seemed looking to him for approval, and yet she was already proving herself far more adept at this life that he was. Yet another tick in favour of the whole 'avoid the Doctor' plan. "Well, I'm more than open to suggestions," he conceded, his words coming across far more spitefully than he'd intended.

She glanced around the hallway, until her eyes stopped on the squiggles that were supposed to mean something on the wall. "I think I know where we are," she murmured to him.

 _Of course_ , he swore silently to himself. Thanks to the TARDIS, she could read the level number and directions on the wall. He should have asked from the beginning for her to lead them back to the main gallery. Even if she, like him, couldn't remember the way, at least she'd have been able to follow the signs that indicated the way, and he knew they'd passed so many.

Cameron waved his arm before them, inviting her to take the lead, but this time they'd stopped too long, the death puppets with their steady but relentless pace had drawn too close. The next time they stopped would be their last, one way or another.

He suddenly shivered at the memory of another cloaked enemy who walked after the Doctor until he could run no more. Cameron had had nightmares about that monster, but at least, even in his dreams, it had still been chasing Twelve and not himself. He dread to think what nightmares this would bring, if he lived to dream again.

"This way! This way! Hurry! Come on!" Rose yelled over her shoulder at him as they sprinted down the passageway, both of them moving far more slowly than they had at the start of their race, yet so much faster than they would likely have been if their lives hadn't depended on it.

He followed her blindly around two more corners, and they somehow managed to briefly lose sight of their pursuers once more, before they dashed into one of the viewing platforms.

"No, no, _no!_ It was here, it was _right here!_ " Rose lamented anxiously staring at the empty space by the door.

Far too late, Cameron realised she'd been leading them to the safety of the TARDIS which, he knew from the episode, had been relocated by the steward and his staff. He groaned in frustration at yet another mistake he'd made, and he dashed towards Rose, pulling her into the corner beyond where the TARDIS had once stood and shielding her from sight as best as he could, hoping the relentless robots would simply pass them by.

Their lungs were burning and their bodies screamed for air, yet they somehow held their breath as they listened for the slightest sound from the hallway. They stood pressed together as far back into the corner as they could manage. They held themselves frozen in place, their eyes fixed on the doorway only a couple of metres away.

The seconds felt like hours as the room's only exit held their entire attention. Then Cameron heard it: the tiny computerised chirp and the soft tapping of metal clicking sharply against metal. One of the little sabotage spiders crept into the room around the other side of the top edge of the door frame. They had seemed so cute on the episode, but Cameron couldn't help but find the sight of the tiny robot absolutely terrifying. This was one of those things that killed the plumber, the steward, that sabotaged the platform nearly taking the lives of everyone on board. This machine was not _cute_.

The sinister spider crawled further into the room. As soon as its illuminated red eye turned towards them, it scurried back out of the room, moving almost too fast to see and certainly too fast to catch, and the doors slammed closed immediately behind it.

 _No, n-n-n-no no no no no…_ Cameron thought, the blood draining from his face even more than it had already.

"Do you think they've gone?" Rose whispered after a moment, not realising the danger the spider had heralded.

Cameron pushed away from the corner, rushing at the door. They needed to get out, they needed to get out _now_.

" _Damn it_ ," he swore when the doors failed to open, even when he pressed random buttons on the control pad next to the exit. He didn't know how long they had, he didn't know how long Rose was unconscious for in the episode, but he was sure it was only a few minutes.

Another horrifying thought metaphorically slapped him in the face, and with it a cold shudder tore down his spine. Rose had likely been left in a viewing platform close to where she was supposed to have been accosted. Instead, they had fled who knew how far across the ship. Would the Doctor find them in time as he had on the show? Or had Cameron in fact killed them by running away?

Rose joined him at the door, her nose scrunching up cutely with disgust. "They locked us in a room," she commented with a ' _who does that_ ' tone of voice, but Cameron was still concentrating on the control pad.

He didn't have a hope of hacking it or ripping it open and crossing the right wires to unlock the door, despite that tv had tried hard to teach the lie that anyone could be a hero. He was not that guy. The only thing he knew about circuitry was not to mess with it or he would end up paying a premium to one of those computer repair shops. He did, however, still have that keycard Boe's aide had given him, and he hoped it would have the access he needed for them to escape.

He fingered the card hopefully then swiped it over the sensor. Relief flooded him when a tiny light on the panel flashed green. That joy was immediately dashed, though, when it almost instantly changed to red, two little notes warbling a negative at him. He swore aloud and tried again to the same result. He began racing against the lights, trying to press buttons that might open the doors in that millisecond before the colours changed unfavourably.

"They locked us in a _room_ ," Rose repeated, looking to Cam with her doe eyes.

"Yeah, well, see if you can find us another way out bef-"

Cameron's words were interrupted by the calming computerised voice of the Platform's computer system repeating a soothing announcement. He couldn't understand the words, but he remembered clearly what the computer was saying.

They both winced back from the blinding light that poured through the tiny crack at the top edge of the window, but what hit them the worst was the wave of pure heat that instantly flooded the room and the acrid burning smell that came from anything the light touched.

Rose instantly joined the fight with the door and Cameron upped his, but they continued to have the same amount of success they had thus far enjoyed.

" _Let us out! Let us out!_ " Rose shouted over and over, opting to make noise, and lots of it, in the hopes of being heard.

" _Is someone in there?_ " the familiar voice came through the door, and Cameron felt himself sag in relief, leaning heavily on the wall before him. He'd wanted so desperately to avoid the Doctor that never had he suspected how grateful he would feel to hear the Time Lord's voice.

" _Let us out!_ " Rose cried out again, still bashing on the door.

" _Oh, well, it would be you_ ," the reply came back with almost amused irritation, and it was all Cameron could do to not swear at the man on the other side of the door. The humour, laughing in the face of danger, had been amusing on the show, but it wasn't so funny when it was real life, and his own at that, that was in the line.

" _Open the door_ ," Rose shouted in reply, obviously sharing Cameron's opinion.

" _Hold on. Give us two ticks_ ," the Doctor answered cheerfully.

The burning light still hadn't reached the door, but the heat that fell upon them left the back of Cameron's neck feeling sunburnt. He bottled his panic down and forced himself to wait for the Doctor to successfully override the system, wishing as he had so many times that this could all just go back to being pretend, being a tv show once more.

The computer spoke a string of gibberish again in its inappropriately tranquil tone.

Beside him, Rose sighed in relief, but, in contrast, Cameron sprang into action, hoping the keycard would work now the Doctor had tripped the system. If the light covered the door it would weld the metal into place, as on the show, trapping them inside. The green light held steady and Cameron mashed on the buttons, the same way he'd always played Super Smash Brothers, pressing anything and everything within reach as fast as possible in the hopes of not dying.

The doors sprang open and the Doctor looked up in surprise. "How did you-" he began to ask, but he cut himself off when Cameron stepped out from the other side of the wall where the Doctor had been working.

Cameron wrapped one arm around Rose's back and quickly propelled them both into the hallway and behind the wall on the other side of the doorframe from the Doctor, away from the danger of the descending shield.

" _Hands!_ " Rose chastised, brushing him away as the Doctor looked on, stunned by the younger man's unexpected appearance. He'd been distracted by the steward's death and trying to save Rose from the same fate, and hadn't being paying any attention to the subtle pull of the Claim upon the boy. Seeing him again though pulled the sensation to the forefront of his attention once more. Had he not been so focused on other matters, he'd have recognised his presence in the room along with Rose.

He was torn away from his scrutiny once more though when the computer spoke up once more with her soothing voice.

" _Sun filter descending_."

The Doctor turned back to the open control panel before him, seeking to both relock the door and to raise the sun filter. He'd raised the shield of the steward's office for the same reason he did now. Unfortunately it had been far too late to save the man, but if the shield protecting the room was left down for too long the superheated light would slowly eat its way straight through the platform, compromising the entire structure and risking the lives of all who were on board. He had a few choice words to say to whoever was behind this, who showed such disregard for the lives of others.

The doors slammed shut, and the Doctor peripherally saw the two humans palpable relief, but he continued in his task until the computer changed its tune, then very deliberately locked that filter against further sabotage, breaking the connection that allowed access to the room's shield.

"Oh, thank god," Rose breathed, leaning back against the wall next to the sealed door frame, trying to cool her back.

Cameron panted heavily as he sat on the floor on the other side of the hall from her, having started in the same position as her but had quickly slid down the wall in exhaustion after the danger had passed. The Doctor was silent, but Cameron could almost feel the Time Lord's gaze upon him, a feeling he confirmed with a quick glance that awkwardly fell away again. The Doctor was staring at him with the same curious intensity he'd shown in the main gallery. He'd wanted to escaped the other man's notice, but instead had ended up right here with him. He squeezed his eyes tight, silently begging him to just lose interest. He'd tried to help his companion. Maybe that would be enough to ask the Lord of Time to just stay away…

 _Oh_ , he was in so much trouble…

The Doctor studied the young man a moment longer, the multitude of questions running through his head only increasing. The boy seemed good in a pinch - quick thinking, clever - but he couldn't not notice how anxious he seemed, and it was obviously him that Cameron was wary of despite the fact that someone else had just locked them in a room and tried to burn them to death. Nothing about him was adding up.

" _Earth death in five minutes_ ," the station announced over head.

He didn't have _time_ for this, the Doctor thought. He'd just have to try to keep Cameron close and hope he could learn the answers he needed, to find a way to rescue him from whatever danger he was in, and find out what was so special about him that someone risked the might of universal law to place a Claim on him.

"Come on. We have to get back," he urgently told the pair, only waiting long enough to to ensure they were both moving to accompany him back to the main viewing platform.

"How did you find us so quick anyway?" Cameron asked as he pulled himself off the floor. He needed to get back to Jack. He knew from the episode that the Face of Boe would survive pretty much unscathed, and so he needed to get back to him to have the best chance of surviving.

A flash of guilt ran through him that, once again, he was saving himself and not the others he knew to be in danger, but he didn't know what else he could do. He didn't know where all the cracks in the shield would appear. He didn't know all the safe places to stand. He didn't know if saving someone would cause the same destruction as when Rose saved her dad in 'Father's Day'. If the Doctor had to contend with the Reapers as well as Cassandra…

The Doctor frowned to himself. There was something ever so slightly wrong with the way Cameron had asked that question, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He once again lamented at his lack of time.

"I was just a couple of corridors away at the steward's office," he explained quickly, glancing back over his shoulder as he did. He found himself frowning again at the expression that showed on Cameron's face, not just an accepting, ' _Oh, that makes sense then_ ,' but a comprehension as if he understood more than what was being said.

 _Of course_ , Cameron thought, nodding to himself as he remembered both how far the Doctor had seemed to run in the show and how quickly the Steward had stumbled upon them at the beginning of the episode. By bringing them to where the TARDIS had been, Rose had inadvertently brought them closer to the Doctor so he was able to more quickly reach and rescue them. He took a steadying breath, hoping everything continued to work out as well as it had so far.

The Doctor quickly led them back to the main gallery, making the route seem so simple that Cameron felt foolish for getting himself and Rose so lost.

As they finally re-entered the hall, he heard a deep voice speaking loudly to the other guests, a guttural and grating sound that set his teeth on edge. He looked up and was surprised to learn the source of the voice was Jabe, who was standing confidently with the attention of everyone in the room upon her. A relieved grin touched Cameron's lips at the upheld spider she displayed in one hand. So she _had_ met the Doctor. He hadn't completely ruined the continuity of the whole episode.

His smile quickly fell again. Except now Rose wasn't trapped away in that little viewing room until the end of the episode. So much could still change because she was there when she shouldn't have been. She'd been safe enough on the show, but now, if she so much as stood on the wrong spot...

The Doctor marched towards Jabe and plucked the spider from her hand just as the Moxx of Balhoon was asking who had killed the steward. Cameron took the opportunity to step to one side, to return to the protective presence of the ancient ex-time agent. The Doctor's arm quickly lifted to cut him off, as though trying to keep Cameron behind him, but he jumped back onto his toes, flinging his arms wide and pulling his tummy and chest in to avoid the Doctor's outstretched fingers before darting across the room, feeling the Doctor's burning gaze on him all the while. He ducked back safely into place just behind and to the side of the giant jar that housed his ancient friend just as the Face of Boe was shaking his immense head in denial of Cassandra's accusation.

The Doctor watched as Cameron slipped away from him. He was unsettled by how determined the young man was to avoid him, but he had every intention of getting to the bottom of the mystery surrounding the boy. But first, he reminded himself as he pulled his thoughts back to the matter at hand, he had another mystery to solve, one that was currently far more life threatening to the guests on the viewing satellite.

The Doctor spoke up, wiggling the little spider in the air before zapping it with his screwdriver and setting it down on the floor, nudging it with his foot to encourage the little robot to creep back to its master as he had directed it.

Unfortunately, Cameron had to follow the conversation by memory. He had expected that he would at least be able to understand the Doctor, but it seemed that, unless the Doctor was directly addressing him, he spoke in whatever the common language was for everyone else to understand him. This made sense, Cameron supposed, remembering Donna's delight to learn she was speaking Latin. They may have heard and felt like they were speaking in English, when actually they could have been speaking whatever language their hearers understood. Well… Rose would have heard English anyway. Cameron found himself wondering what language the Doctor might hear.

Cameron watched the little spider with distaste as it scuttled through the room. To his consternation, it didn't approach Cassandra first as it had in the show, but scurried directly to the cloaked scapegoats he and Rose had fled from in the halls.

"That's them," he heard the Londoner telling the Doctor from across the room. "They're the ones who chased us."

' _Cam, are you alright?_ ' Cameron heard whisper softly in his head, the telepathic voice drowning out the indecipherable ones around him.

"Peachy," he answered bitterly as he watched the Doctor dealing with the remote controlled puppets in cloaks. He was shaken by all the differences between the events before him and how he'd seen them before, unsure how much was due to his influence and how much was simply that the episode had been wrong, either by mistake or by deliberate intention. Cameron suspected this difference was the latter.

It wasn't simply a case of the Doctor pulling one robot's arm off and snapping some brightly coloured connection to deactivate the cloaked puppets. Instead, the battle was short and fierce, though the Doctor's lazy movements implied otherwise, as he manually disconnected each robot from the transmitter within them. He knew the Doctor was supposed to be strong and fast, and that the third Doctor was an expert in some kind of Gallifreyan kung fu - suggesting his later incarnations were similarly proficient - but Cameron had never seen such effortless deadliness, not outside the big and small screens, yet the Doctor's assault seemed as perfect and choreographed as anything from tv.

The Doctor announced something to the crowd before him, holding up a small device he'd harvested from one of the robots, before tossing it back into the broken pile he'd created. His breath wasn't even laboured.

Cameron glanced around the room to see that everyone was looking at the Doctor with a new level of respect, or concern, but it was Rose whose expression troubled him the most. She wasn't supposed to have been there. She shouldn't have seen this menacing side of the Time Lord, but, because of Cameron, she was staring at the Doctor with her eyes and mouth wide in horror, looking sickened to suddenly recognise how dangerous the stranger she ran away with truly was.

Cameron swallowed, his gaze dropping away. This was why he shouldn't be there. Rose wasn't supposed to look at the Doctor with such fear. What if she decided not to travel with him anymore? How much would change? Who would save the Doctor from the Daleks on Satellite Five? Or who would help Donna to restore the proper time line so the DoctorDonna could be there to prevent the reality bomb? Bad Wolf had said that she created herself, but how could she if Rose decided to go home, afraid of this glimpse of the warrior the Doctor had had to become in the Time War?

Cameron desperately tried to think of a way to undo the damage he might have caused, but every idea meant more interfering, and more interfering meant more risk to the future. He'd already sworn to himself that he would do everything he could to keep the timeline as close to the one he knew as possible, but simply by being in the same room changed things; the butterfly effect. Had he changed everything from the moment he'd arrived in this universe?

He couldn't do anything, he decided. Any action was too great a risk. Even trying to help had only made things worse. He just had to hope that everything would be okay. Maybe Bad Wolf will have somehow compensated for the danger he posed. He just had to stay away and hope that the changes he had caused could be mitigated, hope that he didn't change things any more than he already had. He had to make sure time stayed true to what he'd seen on the show, and that meant staying away.

He bottled down his urge to comfort Rose, to reassure her and encourage her to stay with the Doctor. She would have to work it out on her own.

He was rocked from his contemplations when the station shook with explosions. It wasn't just a little shudder as it had appeared in the show. Cameron was thrown to one side, only staying upright because he'd fallen against the side of Boe's life support jar, but then his feet left the ground entirely when the platform's artificial gravity failed. The lights flickered out, throwing the room into darkness, before the emergency lighting stuttered pathetically to life.

Cameron's ears were ringing at the sound of the explosions, but not so much that he couldn't hear the terrified screams of the other passengers around him. The proper lights flashed back on blindingly around them, and the room's occupants fell back to the floor as the gravity reinitiated itself, most, like him, being knocked off their feet, but some, like the Doctor, impossibly being able to keep themselves upright. Cameron turned to his friend beside him at the ominous sound of crunching glass when the giant head crashed that foot back down to the deck again, but was quickly distracted again by the flap of skin who appeared callously nonplussed by the catastrophe around her. She made some grandiose announcement the he could remember but couldn't understand before disappearing from sight in a blinding display of uplifting, sparkling lights.

A multitude of voices overlapped around him, far more than the couple of comments he remembered from the show, but none of the cacophony making a lick of sense to him. His gaze was instinctively pulled back to the Doctor at the sound of his voice, however, Cameron still couldn't understand what he was saying.

"No. We can do it by hand," the Doctor corrected. "There must be a system restore switch. Rose, Jabe-" His eyes reached across the room and met Cameron's, who was watching him warily from his place beside the Face of Boe. Much as he wished otherwise, he knew the young man wouldn't join them if he called. Even as his eyes continued to hold Cameron's across the room, he turned and spoke to the two women he'd named. "Come on. You lot, just chill," he added, knowing that very soon they'd all be doing anything but.

' _Stay close, now_ ,' the words whispered through Cameron's mind.

"I know," he murmured in reply as he glanced around the gallery.

The temperature was already rocketing and any moment now the shields would begin to fail completely, and so many of these people around him would lose loved ones or be hurt, even killed themselves. Cameron's eyes shimmered with guilty tears even as he stepped closer to his ancient friend, pain echoing through him as he anticipated the suffering that was about to take place around him. He couldn't remember everything, but the one clear image that stood firmly in his mind's eye was the smoking chair where the Moxx of Balhoon had once sat. He couldn't…. He couldn't just let it happen!

" _Moxx!_ " he called out desperately, waving a come hither to the tiny alien. The little blue creature gibbered in reply. " _Come on!_ " Cameron called again, still frantically summoning him with his arms.

The shields protecting them began to crack, and light sliced through into the room. Inexplicably, the image of lightsabers sprung to Cameron's mind.

The little creature who held Cameron's focus jumped fearfully in his seat as the world began to splinter apart around him, and he quickly began to steer himself in the direction of the young man who called out to him. A light sliced close by him, cutting deeply across his shoulder in a wave of burning heat, but he pushed on to reach the apparent sanctuary, numbed against any pain.

Cameron covered the little fellow as best as he could as they both huddled low in front of Boe's massive form. He knew it was only supposed to be a few minutes, but the hellish chaos seemed to last forever as fire and brimstone rained around them. The displaced young man barely even recognised when it was all over, suddenly just becoming aware of the deafening silence of peace around him.

He looked around at the devastation, seeing others beginning to stir as well, and was suddenly hit with the sickening stench of roasted meat. The people around him who had been unlucky enough to have been in the path of those burning rays hadn't simply evaporated in a poof of ash, they had been charred to a crisp, their bodies sickeningly blackened and shrivelled wherever the light had touched and seemingly unmarked elsewhere. The horrible reality of the situation went far beyond the PG rating the episode had claimed.

Cameron looked down at the little man who had tumbled off his chair beside him and cried out wordlessly to see the damage done to the innocent creature's arm. His whole shoulder and upper arm were ruined, like someone had taken a blowtorch to just that area.

" _Moxx! Come on little buddy!_ " Cameron called out with a soft stricken voice to the broken creature, trying again when he got no response but a series of bubbling breaths. " _Come on, stay with me!_ "

The Moxx gasped raspily, but opened one obviously bleary eye and crooned something indecipherable before letting that eye fall closed once more.

"Thank god!" the young man murmured, even though he knew, with that sort of injury, the pixy-like alien still might-

Cameron cut off the train of thought as he heard the soft whisper of the immortal man at his side. ' _Cam, are you alright?_ '

" _Jack!_ " he exclaimed at the sound of Boe's weakened voice. He felt like the crappiest human being. The Face of Boe had shielded and protected him, and, in the moment, Cameron had just forgotten him. "Jack, are you okay?" he demanded, worried by how faint his friend's voice sounded.

' _I'm fine. Today is not my day_ ,' Boe replied faintly. ' _Are you alright?_ '

"Not really, but yes," Cameron admitted quickly before racing into his own concerns. "You don't sound okay though," he rambled with worry.

' _I diverted all my energy and reserves to extend my systems heat shielding_ ,' the giant head thought weakly to him. ' _I had to keep you safe. Today is not your day either_.'

Cameron shook his head, feeling immensely grateful even as he contradicted the giant head. "I don't even belong here," he murmured softly. He felt like a hypocrite saying the words. He wanted them to be true, and yet, hadn't he put his own life before everyone else's? He might have called belatedly to the Moxx of Balhoon, but he could have offered his place of safety to any of the others, to as many others as possible and taken the chance in the open instead of them, but he'd put himself first, and in a universe where he didn't even belong. His presence only risked further lives.

Some of the other lucky guests began moving around and helping the injured. As he didn't know anything about alien biology, especially given there were so many different races in the room, Cameron just stayed back with Boe, keeping out of everyone's way as best as he could, while watching for the Doctor and his companions' return. He continued trying to check on the Moxx, not sure if he was actually helping by getting a response out of the little fellow each time or if he should have left him to rest, but eventually someone came over to offer him proper care. His heart was in his throat and his eyes were brimming to look out upon the rest of the room, at the survivors, the injured, the dead…

"Where did they all come from?" he murmured to his giant friend when he realised that, not only were there far more people milling about than there had been earlier, but most of those new additions didn't seem to be as injured and affected as those who had suffered at Cassandra's actions.

' _Many guests had extensive staffs upon their vessels_ ," came Boe's answer. ' _It is general practice for them to have at least basic medical training, first aid, and some even have a qualified professional on board_.'

Cameron's gaze returned to the little Moxx who was being cared for on some kind of specialised stretcher by another alien who looked similar to the tiny creature but who stood upon longer, stronger legs. Until that moment, it had never even occurred to him that the chair in which the Moxx sat could have been a kind of wheelchair, as though he suffered some sort of physical disability, but he supposed that made the Moxx one of the luckier ones, to have such highly trained help close by.

Over the next half hour, the room was slowly beginning to empty as guests were returned to their own ships, and Cameron grew more and more anxious. "Where are they? They're supposed to be here by now?" he demanded in a hiss to his friend.

The shields had been raised, so the Doctor must have succeeded, but shouldn't they have come straight back to the gallery for the Doctor to deal with Cassandra? Had he been hurt? Had Rose been hurt? Or killed? What about Jabe? Had she died like she did on the show? Or had she survived? And, if the latter, where was she?

' _Patience, Cameron_ ,' Boe thought to him, but his weary words did nothing to allay Cameron's concerns.

In the end, Cameron wasn't entirely sure how long it had been since the earth burned when the Doctor strode boldly into the room, and Cameron was visibly fretting. He breathed a heavy sigh of relief at the sight of the man, but then his anxiety rose once more when he walked alone to speak a quiet word to the two trees who had accompanied Jabe. He'd done the same in the show. Did that mean Jabe was d….? But where was Rose? She should have been alright, but she was nowhere to be seen…

Cameron knew he should stay away, but with Rose missing… If his presence had caused her death… He was almost shivering as he jumped to his feet and hurried across the room, reaching the Doctor just as the other man cracked open the faux egg.

"Where are Rose and Jabe?" he asked without preamble, unable to keep the sound of worry from his voice.

The Doctor glanced at him sharply, narrowing his eyes in contemplation before turning his apparent attention back on the device he'd pulled from the ostrich egg. "How do you know her name?" he asked lightly, even as he listened very closely to the young man's answer.

Cameron frowned, confused by the question. "You introduced us," he pointed out, glad for the ready made excuse the Doctor had given him.

"Not Rose. Jabe," the Doctor clarified, glancing up from under his brows where he was fiddling with the little teleportation feed booster.

Cameron froze, looking at the Time Lord with wide eyes as he realised how he'd been caught out, even as his mind frantically searched for a believable excuse. "Someone must have mentioned it…" he eventually muttered, his gaze falling away at his lame excuse.

The Doctor paused in his task and appraised the boy at the obvious lie, wondering what the truth could be if he was trying to hide it. "Huh," he murmured to himself. Was Cameron simply trying to hide that he'd asked about him and those he was with? There was nothing wrong with a healthy curiosity after all, and if the young man was curious about him that might make it easier to get answers of his own, but why was he so obviously reluctant in his presence to the point where he lied about such a simple matter. Unless, of course, it wasn't so simple, but the Doctor was hard pressed trying to what out what other answer it could be.

He turned his gaze back to the booster feed he was working on, changing the subject briefly. He suspected he'd have more chance of sneaking information out of Cameron if he let his defences relax a bit, although, given how close to the surface those defences seemed to be, he wasn't sure how open he would be. Best to distract him and settle his concerns to discern how much he could learn.

"She's too far away," he announced suddenly as he worked on the device.

"Sorry?" Cameron asked, confusion shining in his eyes.

"Cassandra," the Doctor clarified. "If she'd been closer I could just reverse the signal and send a repeat command pulse to activate the teleport, but her ship has moved out of range." He set down the egg timer look-a-like. "I just need a little bit of something to boost the signal. A bit of juice."

He began patting down his pockets absentmindedly as if searching for something that would serve his purpose. He had plenty of options on hand, of course, the simplest one being to just cause the little booster feed to use all its power in a single burst, draining its batteries for that one last task, but he wanted the young man to feel involved, to feel like he was working with him, that the two of them were on the same side, as opposed to holding the Doctor at a reserved arm's length as Cameron currently seemed inclined to do. "I must have a battery or a phone somewhere…" he murmured as if to himself again.

Cameron fished in his pocket. "How about this?" he offered, holding out the translator he'd shown Rose.

The Doctor looked at the little unit, so much less than the translation circuit in his own ship, then beamed up at the young man. "Fantastic!" he announced before snatching it away. Using his sonic, he quickly opened both devices, using the pieces he scavenged from the translator to connect its battery to the booster feed unit.

"Rose is fine, by the way," he belatedly answered as his nimble fingers swiftly worked. "It got a bit hot while we were resetting the shield. Her hands were badly burned." He glanced up at seeing the way Cameron started slightly at the news, but he was surprised to see mixed in with the young man's concern for her was a large amount of guilt as though he was somehow personally responsible for his companion's injuries. Another curious reaction that didn't add up. Who was this young man?

Rose had been burnt holding down the lever to slow the platform's cooling fans. Obviously the station's designers had never watched the retro movies they were basing their design off to see how poor the design was. She had taken off her hoodie and used it as insulation, but the room had simply grown too hot and the metal had burned her through the fabric, and yet she never released the lever until the Doctor had crossed to the other side.

As terrible as it had been, the Doctor was glad it hadn't been Jabe holding the lever down. Considering how high the temperature reached, there was a good chance contact with the metal would have caused her wooden body to combust. She had waited just outside the door, ready to step in if Rose couldn't hold the lever down any longer.

"She's alright," the Doctor repeated, laying a calming hand on the concerned man's shoulder. "Jabe and I rushed her back to my ship and I patched her up good as new. They're back there now, while I take care of business here."

He paused, watching the multitude of emotions rushing over Cameron's face. The Doctor was surprised by the amount of guilt he continued to see, but pleased with the obvious concern, relief and understanding the young man showed. He nodded to himself internally, thinking Cameron too may be worthy of offering a trip, as well as a lift back to his own time.

"How about you?" he asked, gently beginning his own interrogation. "That's not an ordinary burn on your hand either," he pointed out, hoping he might open up about what had been done to him and why, but instead he saw the shutters instantly close in his eyes, Cameron's internal defences snapping back into place.

"I should…" Cameron started to murmur, pointing his thumb over his shoulder in the vague direction of his guardian, but the Doctor quickly cut him off, trying a different tactic. He didn't want to lose the opportunity before him.

"I can get you home, back to the past," he offered gently. "I know you don't belong here. Good with time, me."

He watched as Cameron hesitated, but ultimately shook his head, still not meeting his eyes. "No. You can't," he murmured sadly, then slipped away before the Time Lord could argue further.

The Doctor watched him go, their brief interaction only raising more questions than it answered, but he wouldn't walk away until he found out more about the young man, until he found out who had tried to enslave him, until he found out what was so special about him for someone to have gone to such great and dangerous lengths to possess him. Cameron was a puzzle he intended to solve.

 **~0~0~0~**

Cameron had done his best to tune out the Doctor's conversation with Cassandra, a task which was made easier by not being able to understand what they were saying, and harder when the realisation hit him that he'd actually aided the Doctor in bringing Cassandra to her death - a kind of death - a fact that made him shiver with cold despite the heat of the room. He stayed close to Boe, determined not to venture out again. His presence had only done more harm than good, and he'd only managed to draw the Doctor's attention. He didn't even know what damage he may have done by inadvertently saving Jabe and intentionally saving the Moxx of Balhoon. Would that rip a hole in time like Rose saving her father would?

He shook his head, reassuring himself that it was nearly over. Soon they would leave Platform One, flying away from the Doctor just as the Doctor flew away from them. If his memory served correct, the next time he and Boe crossed paths would be a year away in the hospital on New Earth soon after the Doctor's regeneration. All he had to do was make sure he wasn't in that hospital and he wouldn't risk messing up events.

If he simply hid away, avoiding any contact with the Doctor, trying to stay out of history's path, then the timeline should be safe from him, shouldn't it? Staying away was the safest way to keep the Doctor's future on track according to the show, and Cameron shuddered, absentmindedly rubbed his palms together and pressing his fingertips to his lips at the thought of what would happen if he interfered, if he changed the Doctor's future. No. _He wouldn't let it happen!_

' _It's time, Cam. This way_ ,' the Face of Boe whispered silently to him, then he began leading him back towards the dock where they had initially boarded the platform.

All of Boe's staff seemed to rush ahead when they reached the open airlock, obviously eager to leave the broken viewing station and return to their own ship, but Boe took his time and Cameron stayed with him. One last aide rushed in, running a little later than the rest. He offered what Cameron assumed was a quick apology to his giant employer, and then it was just himself and his ancient friend still on the station, overlooking the irregularly shaped, molten orb that used to be the earth before them, both offering their quiet respect.

It was Boe who first broke their silence. ' _Cam_ ,' the great head whispered. ' _You have to stay with the Time Lord_.'

" _What?!_ " the younger man gasped in shock, not having expected those words. He'd already explained that he couldn't, that he would change the Doctor's future. How could he even suggest it? "Not a chance. It's not happening," he declared firmly, shaking his head.

' _Cameron._ ' The ancient man turned on the spot in his oversized jam jar. ' _You know better than anyone how dangerous it is to change the future. Those times can't be changed_.'

He understood exactly what Boe was implying; it wouldn't be long before the Doctor first met Jack, but Cameron had no intention of being there. "You promised to protect me," he accused, glaring at the other, feeling betrayed by the very suggestion.

' _I promised to make sure you were safe_ ,' Boe corrected with the air of explaining to a child, making the young man bristle more. ' _The Time Lord can protect you far better than I_.'

"No. It's not happening," Cameron repeated in firm denial, but his next words came out as more of a plea. "Come on, _please!_ He won't let me go. You _know_ he won't. He'll think I know the future!"

' _You_ do _know the future_ ,' came the vaguely amused reply.

"That's beside that point," Cameron waved away.

' _I'm sorry, Cameron_ ,' Boe interrupted before the young man could argue further. ' _It's already done_."

A cold fear sliced through him at the pronouncement. "What do you mean?" he asked after a moment's hesitation, unable to hide the shaky fear from his voice.

"Cameron."

He turned at the sound of his name to see the very man he'd wanted to avoid standing in the doorway. He'd heard everything.

"You set me up," he accused the ancient head in a low voice, glaring at him as the head moved into a better position to face the Time Lord in their presence.

' _You sound surprised by this_ ,' the Face said lightly, sounding more like the old Jack.

Belatedly, Cameron realised how true those words were. After all, when the Doctor first met him, he would be making his living as a glorified con man.

He heard Boe's next whispered words, even though he could feel that they weren't addressed to him. ' _Take care of him_.'

"I will," came the northern reply, but the Doctor's speculative gaze never left the young man who was being given over into his care.

"No, _please!_ " Cameron murmured softly, stepping closer to the head that appeared to be backing away. All too late he realised that was exactly the case. Boe hadn't been turning to face the Doctor so much as he'd been lining himself up with the passageway connecting to his ship, a passage that was only just big enough for the massive head in his life support jar to pass through. He was blocking Cameron out as he backed into the ship, offering him no escape.

' _I'm sorry, my friend. Goodbye Cam_.'

The bulkhead doors slammed closed behind him. Cameron stared at them for a moment, shocked by the sudden finality, before rushing at them, beating on them as uselessly as as Rose had done on the platform with the descending sun filter.

"Don't _do_ this! Don't _leave_ me here!" he shouted out fruitlessly, but was only answered by silence. He was trapped.

He turned his head, glancing toward the Time Lord who stood calmly as he looked on, then Cameron slowly turned his whole body, trying to stand boldly and confidently before the Doctor, glaring at him with hostility, but he undermined the image of bravery he was trying to portray by the way he fearfully pressed back against the bulkhead door, putting as much distance between himself and his captor as he could.

 **~0~0~0~**

 **Author's note:**

 _Another chapter down, my friends. It was a little longer than the first, but I'm not aiming for a certain number of words so much as making sure everything is said that needs saying. This means you'll get some longer and some shorter chapters along the way._

 **Reviews:**

 **Once Upon A Nevereverland**

 _Thank you for my first review. It was both really exciting and encouraging to receive! I do have lots of plans for this; it's been bubbling away in some form or another in the back of my mind for about two years now, so hopefully there won't be too many holes after all of that contemplation. On that note though, please, please,_ _ **please**_ _do point out if I miss something so I can either fill in the gap or assure you an answer is coming. I know I've raised more questions than given answers thus far. All part of the fun of course! *chuckles wickedly*_

 _I hope I continue to live up to your expectations, although I admit that I'm nervous that I'll fall short. There will be a certain amount of episode rehashing after all. Hopefully I can give it enough of a twist to keep it fresh though._

 **And to everyone:**

 _*points* Yes, you. I'm talking to you._

 _Thank you all for your support! My stats may seem low for you to see, but I've been watching the numbers of views and viewers. Not only have lots of people visited this little story of mine, but so many of you came back for a second peek or more!_

 _Thank you everyone! I'll do my best to try to continue to give you a story that's worth coming back to!_

 **CP**


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